Cripes – where do you start with India? We have done 4 weeks so far and have done the sights in Delhi, the main cities in Rajasthan and a week up in the Himalayas and so have a good feel for how the country ticks – which is sometimes slow and sometimes not at all, but then all of a sudden far too fast altogether.
Delhi airport itself is no different to any other international airport on the inside, but as soon as you walk through the doors, India hits you – men sleeping under bridges, a scrum of rickshaw drivers peddling (pardon he pun) for business, 40 degree heat, roads abruptly ending, no lanes on big roads, cows in the road – the list of differences to most places elsewhere in the world goes on and on.
The one thing that you need to be prepared for when you come to India is the use of the horn. Nicola and I have been spotting different horn meanings over the last few weeks and whilst the list is not exhaustive – we feel we have covered the most frequently used. 1) ‘Just letting you know I am here’ horn 2) ‘I am about to cut you up’ horn 3) ‘You are driving too slowly’ horn (note there is no opposite) 4) ‘I am coming around this obstacle at such a speed I have no hope of stopping’ horn 5) ‘I would like to over-take you’ horn 6) ‘You may over-take me’ horn 7) ‘I don’t care what you are doing – I am bigger than you, so will do as I please’ horn 8) ‘No reason to beep, but I haven’t in 10 seconds, So I should probably just beep anyway’ horn 9) ‘I have spotted one of the 1 billion people in the country about to step further in the road 1km away and so I will beep just to warn you’ horn. Whilst all cars have rear view mirrors, side mirrors and indicators – they are merely aesthetics – put there merely to make the car look complete.
We got to Delhi just before the monsoon season was expected – so we were faced with mid 40s heat everyday and a general feel of agitated anticipation – I am not sure if this is our culture shock of being here or everyone elses frustration at the slightly late rains. Whilst hot, the dry conditions did make navigating around Delhi easier than if there were torrential rains every day. We did all the main sights Qutub Minar, The Lotus Flower, The Red Fort, the Jamma Masjid, Humanan’s Tomb, the National Museum – all really impressive – ancient monuments – places that really reflected the majesty of India’s history. Their history goes back 6-7000 years!!!!!!
Next stop was meeting up with Jamie and Craig and having a very indulgent long weekend with them – A flight down to Jaipur, 3 nights staying in a lovely hotel (strongly recommended if you ever go – The Jai Mahal) – going to all the local sights – the most impressive of which is the Amber Fort – and then spending a few days in and out of the textile, antique and jewelry emporiums of the area. From Jaipur we got on our first Indian train – to Agra, a cabin to ourselves, 6 hours of snoozing and general chit chat and then we arrived at the Agra Station. Again Jamie and Craig had a surprise for us – they had booked us in to the Amarvilhas Hotel – with a view of the Taj from its cocktail lounge/balcony and their good men had come wearing turbans and wielding 4x4s to whisk us in air conditioned luxury straight from the train station to the hotel. It was Jamie’s birthday and Craig had organized cake, flowers and wine for Jamie’s arrival – so we all retired to Jamie’s room to acclimatize to the luxury and share in his birthday bounty. The day was spent by the pool (frozen fruit and frozen towels delivered periodically through the afternoon), a couple of hours at the Taj Mahal – truly magnificent building, aesthetically very pleasing – but you do have to remember the inside is a mausoleum, so the value of the building is from the outside. Afterwards – it was back to the air conditioned bar for wine , nuts and cards and then a spot of dinner.
The next morning – we all went back to Delhi and exchanged the boys for Penny (for my family – Nicola’s mother). Dropping off one set of visitors and picking up another. Or that was the plan – but Gulf Air had other Ideas. Penny eventually arrived a day later – Nicola and Penny did a couple of the sights in the morning and then we all jumped on to the over-night train to Jaisalmer. Actually no jumping was happening at all – as Penny went over on her ankle at New Delhi Train Station and hurt her foot. It looked at the time like no more than a nasty sprain, but as it did not improve after 5 days we had it checked out by a doctor – who prescribed painkillers and a bandage. On Penny’s return to the UK she actually found out she had broken a bone in her foot and now has to wear a lower foot brace to help it mend. And yet she still managed to hobble around India with us for a full 11 days – good work Penny.
Jaisalmer is 17 hours on the train from Delhi and with delays actually took 20 hours. We had tried to get a cabin to ourselves, but couldn’t so we ended up sharing a compartment with 7 others!!! It was sort of fun, but with Penny’s foot, my still dodgy stomach (Delhi belly for 12 days), people getting on and off through the night and various miscellaneous human noises it was not the best night sleep we had ever had. Jaisalmer is an amazing town, cut, sculpted and built out of sandstone in the desert, near the Pakistan border – with a way of life that does not seem to have changed a great deal in the last 1000 years! We spent our time in the palaces and museums and in all honesty, doing anything to keep cool – it was again in the mid 40s.
Next stop was to see the famous floating palace of Udaipur. After various discussions we decided the best way to get there was a taxi for 9 hours – it sounds awful, but we drove through some great countryside and you do see so much more in the car than on a train or plane (note there was no plane option from Jaisalmer). The famous floating palace of Udaipur had a surprise for us – the rains had not come, so at the moment it is the famous NON-floating palace – just standing proud on a green plain with the odd buffalo strolling past. We again did the palace museum, went to a folk dance session, painted ourselves miniature elephants (Penny’s was best but mine was as good as Nicola’s) and had a few good dinners.
Back on another train, back to Jaipur – again we went to the Amber Fort, this time with an elephant ride up the hill – and enjoyed the fort just as much a second time. More textiles, paper, jewelry and antiques and then on to the bus for Agra again. We stayed in a slightly cheaper hotel this time around and got hugely frustrated at the faulty air conditioning, the restaurant covered in flies (they actually have pizza on the menu, that when you order it, someone drives to the Pizza Hut, 1 km away and picks it up for you!!!), the lack of communication skills of the manager, one of the rooms not being available for us 4 hours after we arrived etc etc! But Penny and Nicola still had a good time at the Taj and that was the reason for being there. One thing we did repeat with Penny was dinner at the Amarvilhas Hotel – Penny was good enough to shout us drink and dinner at the 5 star hotel for our last night together. Both the ladies had picked up Indian clothes through trip and looked amazing for the evening – I stumbled behind – as ever in city casual.
The next day was another bus, back up to Delhi and Penny literally hopped (hobbled) back on the plane back to Blighty (arghh Blighty how we miss you) and Nicola and I got on the train heading north.
To cut a long travel journey shorter – we rook a train for 6 hours to Kalka, slept for 1 night there, took another 9 hour train from Kalka to Shimla – slept 1 night there and then took a bus for 11 hours to Manali – Trekking capital of India in the lower Himalayas. Manali was a great relief – much cooler – c30 degrees in the sunshine, but low to mid 20s out and they are renowned for their fresh fruit and vegetables – so as well as feeling cooler we started to eat much better quality food. With this new found health we decided to do a trek. There are a myriad of treks to do and it is very difficult knowing which one is best –after a combative discussion – Nicola and I agreed to do a 4 day, 3 night trek (Nicola was looking for something shorter – like 1 night). We found a good agency and paid our money. The trek would be just the two of us with support from a guide (the maps are useless and the paths almost non-existent), a cook, a cook’s helper (his son) a donkey man and 3 donkeys. It sounds quite extravagant to have so many helpers, but it cost about GBP50 per day for everything and it is the way trekking is done here. We had 4 great days, the sun was shining everyday for the treks – about 6 hours per day – quite hard – lots of up hill slogs – but with enough time each afternoon for tea, a chill out, scenery appreciation and then a camp dinner. As always the pictures give you so much more than my words.
With the end of our trip rearing its head in the distance we enter the final stage of our trip – down to south India – after a 15 hour over night bus to Delhi and a 3 hour plane ride to Chennai, one night in Chennai and 3 hours on the bus we are now in a small town famed for it rock carving and its white (ish!!) beaches. Unfortunately monsoon season is upon us , but in between the rain we have long periods of sunshine. We have 3 weeks to go and are trying to make the most of our unreal world, before the real world lays its hefty hand back upon us.
